Katunitsa Murderer Jail Time Upped by 1 Year on Appeal

The Plovdiv Appeals Court sentenced Simeon Yosifov, 55, to 18 years in prison for the murder of 19-year-old Angel Petrov. Photo by BGNES

The Plovdiv Court of Appeals has sentenced Simeon Yosifov, 55, who ran over and killed 19-year-old Angel Petrov from the southern Bulgarian village of Katunitsa, to 18 years of imprisonment.

Yosifov was charged with breaking traffic rules and intentionally killing the young man.

He will start serving his sentence in a maximum security facility.

At the beginning of March, the Plovdiv District Court has sentenced Yosifov to 17 years of imprisonment.

The accident, which took place on September 23, 2011, caused ethnic tensions to flare up in Katunitsa and other parts of the country due to the alleged involvement of Roma clan leader Kiril Rashkov, aka Tsar Kiro.

The time spent in custody since September 25, 2011 will be deducted from the sentence.

Yosifov had his driving license stripped and the van was confiscated by the State.

The defendant also must pay BGN 1 275 in court expenses and BGN 2 000 to Atanas Petrov, the father of the victim.

The last ruling came after Yosifov's lawyer appealed the 17-year jail sentence.